A grab bag of other factors can have an influence on salaries.
Our survey found that a respondent’s age and gender, the size
of the company he or she works for, and the length of his or
her tenure with the current employer can make a difference.
Take age, for example. It seems logical that median
salaries should increase with age; as Exhibit 5 shows, that is
true, although the differences start to taper off once respondents reach their mid-50s. The median salaries for respondents aged 56 to 60 ($89,000) and for those over 60 were
separated by just a few hundred dollars.
For as long as salary surveys have been around, women
have lagged behind men in terms of their compensation. As
Exhibit 6 shows, the difference in median salaries this year
was $20,000, or 31 percent. The persistent gender gap
appears to be based to some degree on experience. Sixty-five percent of the women who responded to this year’s survey had 15 years’ experience or less, compared to 40 percent
of the men.
The size of the company you work for makes a difference
in your salary (see Exhibit 7). As you might expect, small
businesses—those with fewer than 100 employees—pay the
least, a median salary of $75,000. Working for a slightly
larger company will get you a slightly larger salary—$2,500
more, to be precise. From there, it’s a steady step upward to
the large corporations that pay a median salary of $95,000.
When it comes to pay, the length of respondents’ tenure
with their current employers seems to be less important
than you might expect. As Exhibit 8 shows, our survey
found only a weak correlation between them. As has been
true in past years, salaries do not necessarily increase with
the number of years with a particular employer. This year,
median salaries for those with 11 to 20 years of service with
their current employer dipped below those of more recent
arrivals. The most senior people, however, outpaced the rest
of their colleagues by several thousand dollars.
Glimmer of hope
As anyone who’s ever undergone a salary review well knows,
there are countless other variables that might influence a person’s salary—job performance, departmental budget, and
perks and benefits, to name a few. But generally speaking, the
Number of employees
Fewer than 100
100–500
501–1,000
1,001–5,000
More than 5,000
Median
$75,000
$77,500
$81,500
$88,500
$95,000
Average
$81,752
$86,691
$94,780
$105,122
$115,494
EXHIBIT 8
Years
0– 5
6–10
11–15
16–20
21–25
More than 25
Median
$82,000
$82,000
$80,000
$80,000
$87,000
$89,000
Average
$98,240
$96,656
$91,532
$89,018
$105,274
$111,689
primary factors in determining salary are title, geographic
region, education, experience, age, company size, and gender.
What does that mean for those eager to boost their earnings? Well, there’s not much you can do about your age or
gender. But if you suspect your location or a lack of schooling might be holding you back, you can think about moving to a different part of the country or going back to
school. But be realistic: In the current economy, even tactics
that were once considered tried and true may not pay off.
It’s clear that the salaries reflect what’s happening in the
economy at large. As orders and shipping volumes decline,
companies are discontinuing bonuses and cutting compensation. Don’t give up hope, though. More than half of the
survey respondents saw their pay increase, albeit by a pretty
slim percentage. And when times get tough, smart companies take a fresh look at their operations to find efficiencies
and cost savings. Who better to take on that mission and
prove their worth than logistics and distribution pros?
